Taco Bell “Early Retirement” Pop-up Offers a Chalupa of Activities, Food, and Fun

First, please be aware that the following is not sponsored content—we simply feel strongly that Taco Bell is in the top echelon of American fast-food chain restaurants, edging out both its counterparts in the KenTacoHut dynasty (Pizza Hut and KFC—perhaps both should at least think about serving alcohol in select locations, and/or perhaps offering more menu options coated in Doritos dust, aka crack cocaine. Think of the possibilities—Original, Extra Crispy, and Dorito Pollo Loco? We would be so in.)

Anyway, to the news: Taco Bell will open its first “early retirement community” immersive experience, The Cantinas, in San Diego for just one weekend, August 17-18. “Feed your inner retiree,” the collateral coaxes, and listen—even though this campaign is clearly aimed at GenZers (who, as a generation, have collectively grasped that waiting until retirement age to relax is a scam), this marketing worked on us right away. 

According to The Cantinas’ website FAQs, activities will range from “low-impact” sports like golf and pickleball to arts and crafts like knitting, painting, croquet, and bocce ball (what a relief—we can bring our Italian dad) and many more activities including, importantly, afternoon naps. And the full Taco Bell menu is on offer. 

If you feel like a weekend of early retirement will help you Live Más (again—they’re not paying us a cent), download the Taco Bell app to be eligible to grab a day or weekend pass (the latter includes a night of lodging!) the day they come out, which is at noon Eastern on Tuesday, July 16. Last time Taco Bell did a pop-up hotel in 2019, taking over the V Hotel in Palm Springs, rooms sold out in two minutes—so set your alarms to participate in artificial scarcity and delicious, delicious capitalism.

Odd News Show correspondents will be in the area during the event, and please believe that we are logged in and ready to take a shot at participating in the festivities (and we even may or may not have considered sitting on this story until it was too late for you to read it). We feel like Goldilocks: too liberal for The Villages (…and perhaps Florida generally), still too young for the Margaritaville retirement community, but The Cantinas community feels juuuuuuuust right. 

If we’re lucky enough to snag a pass to the festivities, we’ll see you on the pickleball court! (Edit: We will not see you on the pickleball court—although we will be all over the knitting circle. Be a lamb and bring us a cold beer while you’re up, would you?)